Dear Family,
It has been an action packed week.
On Sunday President Pratt came to Church and interviewed us during
Sunday School. My interview went something like this:
President: "Well here you are Elder O'Brien.. your final transfer"
Me: "It's been a fun ride and I've definitely come a long way"
President:
"Yes you have and my message to you simply is you've done it. You've
accomplished something very hard and very challenging. You've
accomplished something that not a lot people can say they've done.
Completing a 2-year mission is a feat that is right up there with
getting married or graduating college."
Me: "Will my last transfer feel like any other transfer?"
President:
"No it won't... not only will you feel distracted about going home but
you'll have to think about home. You'll have to make plans for your
future and take time to do that every week. But you can find comfort in
knowing that most missionaries sprint to the finish line not jog."
Me: "Okay thank you for that advice President. I'll miss you" (Gives me a hug)
With
that interview in mind I am now about to begin my final transfer on my
mission. Yesterday, we read the transfer letter and I am being
transferred to St. Stephen, New Brunswick for my last transfer. It is
right on the border to Maine once again. So I'll get to go back and
forth to Maine again while living in New Brunswick. I will be in a trio
with Elder Belmonte and Elder Beacham. I go home with Elder Belmonte. He
is from the Philippines but is living in Red Deer, Alberta. Elder
Beacham is from Utah and has a very farm town country attitude. I leave
tomorrow morning.
I am sad to be leaving Sackville. This
is the youngest ward I've served in and it has a lot of youthful energy
in it. I got to work with a couple of great recent converts here. I got
to find some new investigators here that are promising. I got to help
G find names to take to the temple. I got to help O stop smoking
as well as Bro. M. I accomplished a lot of good things here and it
makes it hard to leave. But I intend on finishing strong in St. Stephen
for my final 6 weeks.
Last Tuesday, We had an area blitz.
The Kentville elders, Bridgewater elders, Bridgewater sisters, Yarmouth
elders, Greenwood sisters all came to Sackville to work here for the day
in an effort to help and create zone unity. I was with Elder
Ray from Bridgewater for most of the day. We mainly trail contacted and
knocked all day. It was raining that day so unfortunately not a lot of
people were out. But we did talk to a very nice man for 30 minutes about
music down at the waterfront. We had lunch and dinner with all the
missionaries that were there. For lunch we had pizza and for dinner we
had pizza. At the end of the blitz we had a brief testimony meeting.
Last
Wednesday, I gave the doctrinal discussion in district meeting on
spiritual self-reliance and likened it to the hard times on our missions
when we need to rely on our testimonies to get us through. I used the Brother of Jared as an example along with Joseph
Smith. After our dinner
appointment while I was backing Elder McGuire up we both weren't paying
attention and he ended backing up the car over my foot. I hit the car in
pain then I got in the car and checked my foot and it felt like my
pinky toe was broken along with other parts of my foot. So we rushed to
the Halifax Hospital to get it checked out. I first got registered then
we waited for 30 minutes then they took me in to see the doctor and we
waited for an hour then they took me into the doctors room and we waited
an hour. Then they felt my foot and told me it was bruised but wanted
to take an X-Ray. So I waited another 30 minutes; they x-rayed my foot
and confirmed to me that it was bruised. We ended up being there for a
total of 3 hours and didn't get home till
11 o'clock at night. It was ridiculous. The
next day my foot was fine and there wasn't any bruises or anything. God
protects His missionaries. God protected my foot that night.
Last
Friday, we went down to Bridgewater and did an exchange there. I went
with Elder Ray to Shelburne. In Shelburne we taught a part-member
couple. The husband is getting baptized in July. We taught him the Plan
of Salvation. In the afternoon we proselyted in Shelburne and ended up
running into a less active.
That's it for the highlights of the week.
I now go forth into my last 6 weeks. I don't know what God has in store
for me for my final transfer but I do know this. I will serve with all
my heart, might, mind, and strength to the very end. Wish me luck in St.
Stephen!
Have a good week!
Love,
Elder O'Brien (the older)
No comments:
Post a Comment